Japan to inspect 32 cryptocurrency exchanges

The Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) plans to check 32 local crypto-exchange exchanges. In particular, the exchanges will be checked to ensure the safety of users' funds, reports Reuters.

The financial regulator will check the activity of crypto-instruments for compliance with 43 parameters, which include cybersecurity, risk management and ensuring the safety of users' funds.

Moreover, the checks will affect those crypto-currency exchanges that have already received permission from the regulator to trade crypto-currencies, and those that have just applied for a corresponding license.

Such activity of the Japanese financial regulator can be explained by the theft of more than half a billion dollars in the crypto currency from the trading platform Coincheck. Attackers withdrew from its accounts 500 million units of NEM crypto currency in the amount of $ 396 million.

Theft became possible, since NEM was stored in a so-called "hot wallet" instead of a more secure "cold wallet", located outside the Internet, explained the crypto site.

After this incident, the financial services agency of Japan announced that it would check the remaining bitcoin-exchanges of the country. In addition, the FSA instructed Coincheck to submit an incident report by February 13 and develop measures to avoid its recurrence. It is also possible that Coincheck will be fined; the size of the fine remains unknown.

The South Korean National Intelligence Agency (NIA) submitted a report to the parliamentary committee, from which it follows that the attack on the Japanese crypto-exchange Coincheck, most likely, was committed by North Korean hackers.

According to NIA, the recent hack of the crypto-currency in Japan exchange revealed some particular features attributed to operations of North Korean hackers. Watchdogs believe that the recent attack on Coincheck is similar to the attack on the South Korean website Youbit. It was forced to declare itself bankrupt after about 17% of its assets were stolen in December last year.

So far, the investigators have not been able to prove Pyongyang's trace in the attack on Coincheck. However, this is believed to be one of the prevalent versions, according to a lawyer that attended the department's meeting. He added that, according to NIA, North Korea is currently expanding the range of methods of illegal crypto-currency mining. Above that, Pyongyang is accused in the attack on Monero computers.